Steven Dale Schafersman (born November 4, 1948) is an American geologist and current president of

Texas Citizens for Science Texas Citizens for Science (TCS) is a Texas-based advocacy group that works to protect the accuracy and reliability of science education in Texas. Its main activity is to oppose organized creationism in Texas, especially at the Texas State Board o ...

, an advocacy group that opposes teaching

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism ...

as science in the

public schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

. He is also known for his

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

BadGeology.com.

Biography

Schafersman holds a B.S. in Geology and Biology from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a Public university, public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of ...

, a M.S. in Geology, and a Ph.D. in Geology (1983) from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...

. He currently resides in

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

with his wife Dr. Gae Kovalick, at the

University of Texas of the Permian Basin The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) is a public university in Odessa, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTPB was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973. UTPB is now home to over 7,000 student ...

professor of

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

. He specialized in

invertebrate paleontology Invertebrate paleontology (also spelled invertebrate palaeontology) is sometimes described as invertebrate paleozoology or invertebrate paleobiology. Whether it is considered to be a subfield of paleontology, paleozoology, or paleobiology, this ...

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

, and

sedimentary petrology Petrology () is the branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form. Petrology has three subdivisions: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology. Igneous and metamorphic petrology are commonly taught together ...

. Schafersman grew up collecting fossils, mushrooms, insects, rocks, minerals, and playing outdoors in Texas, Arkansas, and Illinois. Schafersman taught at the

(2000-2002),

Miami University (Ohio) Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

(1994-1999),

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

(1984-1989) and

Houston Community College Houston Community College (HCC), also known as Houston Community College System (HCCS) is a public community college system that operates community colleges in Houston, Missouri City, Greater Katy, and Stafford in Texas. It is notable for activ ...

(1974-1978 and 1984-1994). He has been a pro-science activist since 1989. In addition, he created th
Free Inquiry
(defunct) website, dedicated to educating the public on humanism and skepticism and the

website, committed to opposing the representation of religious concepts such as

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscience, pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured he ...

and

as science in Texas textbooks. Schafersman contributes to a

column for the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' at Evo.Sphere Blog.

Texas State Board of Education

Schafersman works against the movement to revise the

Texas State Board of Education The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

science curriculum to include religious objections to evolution.

References

External links

Texas Citizens for Science website

for the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schafersman, Steven 1948 births Living people 20th-century American geologists American paleontologists Critics of creationism Rice University alumni Northern Illinois University alumni University of Texas Permian Basin faculty People from Dumas, Texas 21st-century American geologists Scientists from Texas Miami University faculty University of Houston faculty